Hands That Bind
Kyle Armstrong’s sophomore feature Hands That Bind is a western that’s more introverted than expected.
Nicholas Campbell
TIFF 2017: ‘Never Steady, Never Still’
By: Jessica Goddard Kathleen Hepburn’s Never Steady, Never Still is a serious, greyscale, dragging meditation on subjects so inherently sombre, it’s practically masochistic to sit through the whole film without allowing yourself a break.
The Rainbow Kid
Try this premise on for size: a scared young man – Eugene – attempts to put an end to his bottoming-out fate by hitting the road and finding theoretical gold at the end of a literal rainbow. Being enrolled in special classes has given the handicapped student a slanted view of reality – a contradiction since he witnesses his chain-smoking mother giving up daily. While on his trip, Eugene quickly finds out that the world can…
Backcountry
By: Mark Barber Adam Macdonald’s Backcountry is a terrifying mix of Jaws and Blair Witch, but manages to avoid the usual kitschy pastiche of recent Canadian genre films. Unlike the campiness of Wolfcop and Hobo with a Shotgun, Backcountry is an intense, serious horror film. Inspired loosely by tragic events, Backcountry follows a Toronto couple, Alex (Jeff Roop) and Jenn (Missy Peregrym), as they become lost in a camping trip in a northern Ontario park….
Algonquin
By: Addison Wylie For better or for worse, Algonquin is unpredictable. What starts as Canada’s independent answer to last year’s Academy Award nominee Nebraska finds unique footing after a detour in its narrative. I suppose any film related site listing the synopsis for Jonathan Hayes’ feature film debut would give away this major turn. Because I certainly didn’t see it coming, I’ll back away from that specific spoiler. It’s an example of how Hayes isn’t…